Between the lines...

Terrorists striked again and killed many innocent people in Mumbai. This time it was frontal attack where armed terrorists let loosen their guns on innocent people at Mumbai's popular and famous places. It is difficult to comprehend what kind of people can carry out such massacre of innocent people.

Investigations so far suggest that terrorists came from Pakistan and were aided by ISI and Lashkar-e-taiba. While Pakistan has history of involvement in terror activities in India and elsewhere this was perhaps the first time that global Jehadi terrorism came to India in its most brutal form.

While victims of terrorism are from all sections of the society, but in almost all the cases perpetrators of terror belong to one community namely Islam. It is fact of the day that most of the terrorist organizations operating in world are Islamic and Jehadi terrorists. This is also a fact that Pakistan is the breeding ground of terrorists. True, terrorists have no religion but these people resort to violence and killing on name of Islam. Islam as a religion may preach peace and love but this is a fact that a large number of its followers and preacher are busy in spreading hatred and killing of innocent people on name of Jehad. It is time for vast majority of peace loving Muslims and their leaders to do deep introspection why their youths are attracted to violence and destruction and to take preventive measures.

I think most important contribution in this battle against jehadi terrorism should come from Muslim religious and community leaders. They should come forward and take measures to ensure that youths from their community are not following on path of hatred, violence and destruction. Muslim scholars and community leaders should sit together and decide on actions, to contain the spread of extremism and fundamentalism in their community and to promote brotherhood, love and peaceful coexistence. The problem with Muslims in India is that they consider themselves Muslim first and then Indians whereas nation should come first to every citizen and religion should be secondary.

Since we are not addressing Islamic terrorism on it face and engaging in appeasement which is counterproductive in long run, we are seeing the emergence of Hindu or anti-Muslim terror groups which is quite dangerous. Terrorism of all kind should be dealt with strongly irrespective of origin or ideology behind it.

Our ruling class should display strong will power, enact strong laws and equip the law enforcing agencies with latest weaponry and technology to combat the menace of terrorism. In aftermath of Mumbai attack there is a ground swell of public anger and opinion towards our politicians which is welcome development and it may force decision makers to take strict measures to prevent terror activities in future.

Here I am suggesting some of the measures which can go a long way in improving the law and order and security situation in country.

• War should be last option but if this is the only viable option to restore peace it should be launched.
• Give a strong message to Pakistan that take action and show us results within specific time frame or we will take the appropriate action including action within territories of Pakistan.
• Strong law on lines of TADA should be enacted. There should be a review commission to review specific TADA cases on random basis as well as based on appeal to prevent misuse of the law.
• Modernization of law enforcing agencies; better training and better equipment.
• Make corruption a severe crime; corruption in certain fields should be treated on par with murder.
• Issue national identity cards to all citizens.
• Electoral reforms: a) to disbar entry of corrupt and criminal people in politics b) option of negative/rejection vote for any candidate.
• Minority commissions should be abolished, we have human rights commissions.
• Establish self contained security committees in each mohalla, ward and Village comprising of local youths and retired army personnel. to promote peace and self-defence.
• All politician and bureaucrats in responsible positions to visit casualty wards of hospitals and to victims of riots and terror strikes to keep their senses awake.

We need to learn to take security seriously. Security is not an issue to be trifled with. Security is not an issue of law and order only, it is an issue of survival as well.

Labels: Attack, India, Mumabi, Pakistan, Security, Terror

America will vote to elect its next president on 4th November. Americans have to choose between democrat Barak Obama and republican John MaCain. All polls and estimations predict a Obama victory.
People have seen too much of Bush in recent years and most of it are kind of suffering from Bush fatigue so a Barak Obama win seems likely. If that happens Barak Obama will be first black man to become USA president. In this election Barak's running mate is Joe Biden, a long time senator with good track record while John McCain's running mate is Sarah Palin, current Governor of Alaska state.

Currently the two US presidential candidates are focusing their efforts on key swing states on final days of campaigning in the White House race. Though opinion polls predict democratic win but outcome can be different due to last minute change in voter preference.

Due to 10 years Bush rule, US involvement in Iraq and Afganistan, current economic turmoil etc it will be really tough for Joan McCain to win this battle. Whether Barack Obama will win or lose it will be difficult to assess the how much the result was affectd by his race.

Barak has already shown his mettle by defeating Hillary Clinton in getting democratic nomination. If Barak wins the race, it will bring forth a change of monumental significance not only to America but to whole world. It will generate a sense of empowerment in minorities, backwards, colored people world over.

Barak picture of taking USA presidential oath will be a momentous moment. Just think a black man occupying most prominent white house in world.

Labels: Barak, Clinton, Hillary, McCain, Obama, President, USA

Stock markets world over are falling since the beginning of this year. The fall is unprecedented in its scale and geographical spread. It started with sub prime lending crisis and spiraled to much of the banking and financial sector.

The first big kill of this crisis was Bear Stearns which was taken over by JP Morgan Chase in March. The crisis deepened in September when Lehman Brothers failed to raise capital and filed for bankruptcy. In same week Merrill Lynch was bought out by Bank of America. American International Group (AIG) was bailed out by Federal Government. One week before this the federal government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which were quasi-government lending agencies.

Following failure of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch etc Credit crisis deepened and spread to other countries. In Europe Belgium bailed out Fortis bank. On sidelines Icelandic bank become bankrupt. Everyday there is news of failure of one or another bank and such news are no longer headline news.

I doubt anybody understands the full scale of this credit crisis. USA govt proposes a massive $700 billion dollar bailout package to lift the market sentiment and next day opposite happens and all indexes fall sharply. Two days later governments world over cut interest rates in a synchronised move to increase the liquidity and again markets fell.

This crisis is no longer a crisis of financial sector and it is already affecting real economy. People are loosing jobs, Production and manufacturing activities are going down, Consumer spending and confidence is very low. There is a real fear of recession in world economy like the USA recession of 1930s. All this has forces governments and central banks to take unprecedented moved to infuse capital in markets and thereby stabilize the situation but nothing seems to be working as of now.

Australia & New Zealand governments have issued guarantees for all deposits with banking institutions for the next three years to bolster confidence in the banking system. I believe more countries will follow suit. All these efforts should improve the situation or at least stabilize it but it will take a while(2-3 months).

The recession outlook and falling demand has resulted in falling oil prices which is more of a correction in my opinion because prices rose too sharply. There are many lessons from this crisis for everybody, for bankers, CEOs, governments and general pubic. There is still lot more to this crisis so watch the game and on alert and save your money(if you still have it).

For couragious people there is opportunity to invest and for others to shift to safer avenues.

Labels: Bank, crisis, Finance, Market, Stocks

Today Maharashtra, Gujarata, Karnatka are most industrialized states of India but it was not like this always. When India got independence in 1947, west Bengal was the leading industrialized state of India. During British rule Industry flourished in West Bengal for many reasons, Bengal has abundance of natural and mineral resources, availability of cheep and skilled labour, it is close to port, basically all the ingredients for industrialization to take off.

Industrial growth of west Bengal got momentum after India's independence and till 70s west Bengal was way ahead from rest of India. In the 1970s and 1980s, the state’s industrial sector had been plagued by Industrial unrest as well as by central government’s licensing policy. During this period Indian worker class was also getting more and more aware about their rights and were demanding improvement in their working conditions. Trade unions were being formed, policies and rules were formulated to safeguard worker interests. This was transition period for worker-owner, employee-employer relations. West Bengal was leading rest of India in this also mainly due to popularity of communism and socialism in educated lot of west Bengal.

During the 1970s and 1980s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent naxalite movement damaged much of the state's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation. In 1977 communist parties led by CPM won the state assembly elections and formed the first Left Front government on June 21, 1977. The Communist Party championed the rights of peasants, workers, employees, women, students, teachers, refugees from the erstwhile East Pakistan, SC, ST and the poor and the oppressed and introduced many social reforms. But Left’s pro worker policies encouraged militant trade unionism which in turn resulted in industrial unrest and strikes, bands, dharnas became order of the day. This industrial unrest slowly acted as deterrent to industrial growth and several industries moved out of west Bengal and cancelled further expansion plans.

The state's economic recovery gathered momentum towards later part of 90s when CPM realized that state is lagging behind other states in industrial growth. This economic recovery got further momentum with the election of a new reformist chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in 2000. Many industrial houses announced the plans to set up factories/plants/offices in West Bengal. This included the announcement by Tata to set up car manufacturing plant at Singur to produce its lakhtakiya car nano.

Tata’s nano project attracted huge attention from local and global media and general public and therefore state of Bengal has lot to gain if first nano car comes out from Singur. But there is problems with land acquisition and displacement of farmers at Singur. Because of this dispute surrounding displacement of farmers, If Tata has to move out of west Bengal, it will be huge disappointment to west Bengal and its industrial aspirations. So leaders of government, CPM, Trinmool Congress(TMC) and farmers have to look beyond short term political gains and agree on a deal which takes into account interests of all the parties. Nano is very important not only for Tata but for west Bengal and India. It can be a vehical riding on which India can be a global auto leader in coming 10-15 years.

Labels: car, CPM, economy, nano, singur, Tata

On 13Th May several bombs exploded in Jaipur in which around 100 people were killed and many others were seriously injured. Two days later a 15 year old girl was murdered in her house in NOIDA near national capital Delhi. The Bomb blasts in Jaipur were carried out by terrorists who are trying to destabilize India. Both the stories were shocking and sensational, the first incident was an attack on our nation, our unity while second raised deep rooted questions regarding family bond and our social values.

Both cases and conspiracy behind them is still unresolved and investigations are on. Initially both stories were widely covered by both print and news media but in matter of few days Jaipur blast story went in background while Aurshi-Hemraj murder case of Noida is still prominently covered and followed by media especially electronic media. In India thousands of crimes take place every day, more heinous and barbaric than the double murders of Noida. What is so special in Noida case ?

On night of 15Th May Aurshi Talwar was murdered in her bed, next morning police started investigations and suspected house servant Hemraj as culprit and declared him absconding. One day later on 17Th May Hemraj's body was discovered on the roof of Talwar's house. This was the first turning point or dramatic input in the story. It highlighted the recklessness and carelessness of noida police on one hand and introduced love-hate-revenge killing angle on other hand which generated huge public interest in this case. In next couple of days mystery surrounding the case deepened, Arushi's parents came under suspicion, extra martial affairs of Arushi's father with a colleague Dr Anita Durrani surfaced, talks of Aurushi's affair with someone through Internet and servant Hemraj were proposed by police which kept and even fueled media interest in the story.

Few days later police arrested Arushi's father Dr. Rajesh Talwar as prime suspect and suggested honor killing or exposure of affairs with Anita Durrani's as possible motives for double murders. But police had only circumstantial evidences against Dr Rajesh, while proposed motive was shaky and police failed to recover murder weapon. This resulted in wide spread criticism of shoddy investigation by UP police and UP chief minister Mayawati requested CBI enquiry to avoid any political gains by Congress on this. The CBI took the case from UP police on 1st June and till now failed to solve the case which by now is being termed as biggest murder mystery.

The major news channels continued to cover the story and gave the case lot of attention and air time. In their effort to beat other channels, every channel sensationalized the story in their own way, raised questions on police's handling of the case and suggested many conspiracy theories. It was very convenient for these 24-hour news channels as they hardly have any substance to present as news and Noida being very close to Delhi it is very easy for reporters to follow the case.

If police/CBI has valid grounds to suspect Dr Rajesh Talwar or compounder Krishna they can make them tell the truth regarding crime motive and weapon using some regular policia methods. Dr. Rajesh is not a professional criminal so he should break very easily if he had something to do with the crime. May be due to huge media attention, Police or CBI is not able to resort to these methods and are spending lot of time and resources on scientific tests such as lie-detector or narco analysis of suspects.

Initially I was also keen on this case and followed it closely but I am loosing interest now and realizing that it is waste of time. Let police and investigating agencies do their job and news channels and we should mind our own business. There are far bigger problems and important things in life than to waste air-time and public resources on such crimes. Too much media activism has its positives and negatives. Media spreads public awareness and keep pressure on public officials to perform their duty but sometimes in media frenzy priority, significance and relative importance of different issues is lost somewhere.

BTW, whoever killed Arushi, I sense, will be exposed soon. After all CBI's reputation is in question, don't you think so ?

Labels: CBI, Crime, Murder, News

Labels: Cricket, entertainment, ICL, IPL, Twenty20

We all know two-third of planet earth's surface is covered with water yet water is a scarce resource, to be precise potable water is really a scarce resource. On other hand Water is life and we cannot imagine life without water. All the time when scientific community of world looks for extra terrestrial life, first thing they look for is traces of water. Water is fundamental to existence of any form of life on earth. I sometimes wonder why the extra-terrestrial life has to depend on water like us earthlings, there may be a life form adapted to its surroundings in different planet or solar systems.

We do not feel the importance of something which is easily available or for which supply is abundant. This is true for both mortal and immortal things. When something is available we take it for granted, be it friends, be it money or be it water. Being from a desert land of Thar I always understood the importance and necessity of conserving water & water resources but for last few years I am living in island nation of Cyprus and without facing any water shortages. But that was thing of past now, there is very little rainfall in Cyprus in last 2 years and as a result of this Cyprus's water resources depleted greatly.

However strange it may sound, but it is true that biggest problem for Cyprus, which is surrounded by water, is acute shortage of water.The main source of water supply in Cyprus is natural rainfall and a water desalination plant in Larnaca. During the time of abundant rainfall Cyprus government did little to prepare for hard times and awoke only when water shortage became acute. Now government drastically limited the water supply to 12 hours in every 2 days and that too in night hours. Not to mention this is causing great inconvenience to citizens. Also this policy is unfair to people living in higher altitude places and having relatively larger families.



As global warming and frequent climate changes are reality of times we live in and there is no viable solution to this in sight, floods and draughts will occur with more regularity and more intensity in future and will affect increasing number of people. The nature and dynamics of the problem of global warming and climate change are very difficult to apprehend but there is general agreement about the implications of it and therefor everyone must do his/her bit to save the planet. It may be impossible to reverse the global warming but we can slowdown the pace of global warming. We have to care for environment for our own sake or we have to deal with droughts, floods, extreme weather, water shortages etc on ongoing basis.

Labels: climate, Cyprus, environmet, Global-warming, water